In addition to the weekly readings, there will be two written assignments.
Project 1
You will be given a paper that lacks title, authors, and abstract. Your assignment is to read the paper and to write a short abstract to describe the paper. Be sure to identify the salient points of the paper and to emphasize the "big picture."
The following paper was used for the Project 1 assignment:
MacPherson, D., J. Sage, T. Kim, D. Ho, M. E. McLaughlin, and T. Jacks. "Cell type-specific effects of Rb deletion in the murine retina." Genes Dev. 18, no. 14 (Jul 15, 2004): 1681-94. Epub 2004 Jul 01. PMID: 15231717 (PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE)
Examples of the Project 1 assignment are included courtesy of the students listed below.
Project 1 abstract by Emily Havens (PDF)
Project 1 abstract by Sharon Lawrence (PDF)
Project 2
Using one of the papers we have discussed in class, write a short proposal for a summer project describing what follow-up experiments you would perform. Design an experiment to help support the authors' interpretations or to test a question that arises from their work. (Hint: if you are stuck, address points that the authors make in the discussion section.) By Session 9, you will submit (by email) your choice of paper and the general question upon which you will focus your proposal. Submit the written proposal by Session 13.
An example student project 2 proposal, based on the following paper is included:
Al-Hajj, M., M. S. Wicha, A. Benito-Hernandez, S. J. Morrison, and M. F. Clarke. "Prospective identification of tumorigenic breast cancer cells." Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 100 (2003): 3983-3988.
Project 2 proposal (PDF) (Courtesy of Sharon Lawrence. Used with Permission.)
An example Project 2 presentation proposal, based on the following paper is included:
Rego, E. M., et al. "Retinoic acid (RA) and As2O3 treatment in transgenic models of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) unravel the distinct nature of the leukemogenic process induced by the PML-RARalpha and PLZF-RARalpha oncoproteins." PNAS 97, no. 18 (August 29, 2000): 10173-8.
"Are All APLs created Equal?" (PDF) (Courtesy of Dr. Kevin Haigis. Used with Permission.)